Granados Stops Canas in a War

Midway through the fifth, Granados landed a counter right hand that stopped Canas from surging forward. Granados, sensing his opponent was hurt, pressed the action and connected with a multitude of punches afterward. Referee Celestino Ruiz hastily stopped the fight as soon as Canas had his back toward the ropes. The official time of the stoppage was 2:36 as Granados earned his third victory in a row.

“I knew it was going to be a great fight,” Granados, 11-2-1 (7), said. “I kind of held back [when Canas was hurt] because I thought the referee was going to step in but he didn’t. I just kept throwing and [Ruiz] finally stopped it.

“I’m glad we had a good fight to bring to Cicero,” Granados added. “This is my hometown and I hope I repped them right.”

In round three, Granados tried to box from a distance. However, Canas’ pressure drew Granados back into the trenches. Both fighters had their moments but Granados landed the better combinations.

Before round five, the fight was fought in a phone booth. As soon as the bell rang, Canas, 6-1-1 (3), charged forward and the two fighters exchanged punches throughout the fight. It was Granados who appeared to be the heavier puncher.

“I was kind of able to do what I wanted,” Granados said. “When I wanted to bang, we banged it out. When I wanted to move, I could have made it an easier fight. But when you get in there and start hearing the crowd, you want to go at it.”

When the fight was stopped, Canas’ trainer Fernando Hernandez jumped into the ring to scream at referee Celestino Ruiz. Afterwards, Canas said he was angry at Ruiz’s decision to stop the fight. “I think they stopped it too early,” Canas said. “He didn’t hurt me. I was hit a couple of times but I wasn’t dazed. I can take a good shot. Everyone who knows me knows I can take a good shot.”

“I feel like Celestino was calling me on my headbutts but wasn’t calling [Granados] on his,” he added. “I was looking to slow him down in the later rounds. You’re gonna get hit with some shots but I feel like it was just called early.”

Regarding the stoppage, Ruiz told Maxboxing, “I saw him taking too much shots and he wasn’t responding to any of the shots so it’s my job as the referee to protect him.” Ruiz also said, “In a heated fight like that, I don’t need to give any kind of warning. I can see when a guy is hurt and that’s my judgment call right there.”

Going forward, Canas said he wants a rematch in a neutral setting and possibly outside Illinois. The fight was fought in front of 972 people in Granados’ hometown of Cicero.

“I’m good with that,” Granados said. “I’ll fight him wherever.”

In the first fight of the evening, Ed Brown, 1-0 (1), earned his first career victory with a first round stoppage over Dontre King, 6-14-2 (2). Brown, 144, connected with a beautiful right hand that stopped the fight at 2:26.

Chicago cruiserweight prospect Junior Wright, 5-0 (5), stopped Nick Reeder, 3-1-1 (2), in the second round of a scheduled four-rounder. Reeder went down twice in round two. The official time of the stoppage was 1:30.

Super middleweight prospect Paul Littleton wound up struggling more than expected with Jordan Brown as he earned a unanimous decision by scores of 60-53, 59-55 and 59-54. Littleton got caught with shots he shouldn’t have throughout the night including being stunned in the first round.

Littleton regained his composure and boxed from a distance. Littleton targeted the body often, which set up a knockdown in the final round.

With the win, Littleton improves to 6-0-1 (4) as Brown drops to 3-1 (1).